Rugby league fans eh? Just what the sport needs.

Waste of time? Let's cancel international RL then. Never happy.

Good write up - thanks for that!

If it wasn't for the 'Rugby league fans' who else would go watch an 'international'? Great adverts always for the game n'est ce pas, especially England v France?

For me, 3 test series are far more interesting than the 4 nations concept of the last few years .

We just beat the world's #1 team in front of a packed house, live on the BBC and people are moaning

"Everything" ?

Don't know is the short answer. But thrashings like England v France are def not the answer; nor is sadly a boring forward fest like the one against NZ. Purported world's best team or not the spectacle has to be a lot better than either of the last 2 internationals to attract new fans.

You get those situations in any sport at any level it doesn't deem them pointless does it? If you don't play the games you're never going to get the spectacle, bizarre comment.

Personally I don't mind seeing some good forward bashing from time time, sure it may not be the most exciting stuff but it's still nowhere near as bad as you're making out.

Exactly, I think some people have got carried away with our last two games vs the Kiwis and were expecting that every time. Wasn't the best game but neither was it a bad game. Can certainly point to much worst international games in other sports.

It should also be pointed out that some of the withdrawals were definitely due to serious injury - JWH and Johnson for starters. Foran also not being in the squad actually shows that in terms of halfbacks the Kiwis have a first choice pair on a par with Australia, but almost zero beyond that (an over-the-hill Marshall should have been picked but he and Kearney don't get on). England's best isn't as good, but at least we have three or four combinations who actually play 6/7 for their clubs.

Although I'm glad from a Leeds point of view McGuire didn't get selected. The form he was in that last month of SL, a big part of me would have loved to see him play the kiwis. I expect he'd be able to fill what we're lacking in our half back partnerships. Even if he is over 30...

If only it was that simple. Most of us agree we have the best, most exciting sport on the planet. But still we play to play to crowds of 10k. While borefests in yawnion, soccer & American football sell out due to the hype surrounding them & the desire to want to be seen to be there.

Yes, I'd agree that marketing is probably of greater importance than performance in terms of attracting new fans. But if you are looking to performance, I'd suggest any type of win holds greater interest than another gallant, albeit stylish, defeat.

Well, if you consider who they have missing

Jared Waerea-Hargreaves
Kieran Foran
Tommy Leuluai
Shaun Johnson
Manu Vatuvei
Simon Mannering
Jason Taumalolo

That's 7 KEY players. including their halves, captain and NRL loose forward of the year.